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Highlights and presentations from the SITE Academic conference 2018

On December 17-18th, SITE hosted its annual Academic Conference that brought together international scholars to discuss and showcase what current research tells us about the existing forms of gender inequality worldwide, their causes, and their consequences.

The conference “Gender in Economics: From Survival to Career Opportunities” featured research presentations, a policy panel and two keynote speakers – Marianne Bertrand, the Chris P. Dialynas Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and Alessandra Voena, Associate Professor at the University of Chicago. 

Day one of the conference began with a research session with presentations by Guido Friebel, Goethe University Frankfurt, Ina Ganguli, University of Massachusetts Amherst and Alessandra González, University of Chicago.

The second research session featured Annamaria Milazzo, World Bank, Anders Olofsgård, SITE, and Lena Edlund, Columbia University.

Milazzo presented her research on the effects of son preference in India.

Olofsgård talked about the impact of foreign aid on gender outcomes and attitudes and discussed if variation in exposure to foreign aid projects at the community level explains differences in female empowerment and welfare of women and girls.

Edlund ended the session with a presentation on the consequences of cousin marriage in the Muslim world.

Keynote speaker Marianne Bertrand, gave a presentation on recent research that covers the glass ceiling, such as risk aversion, dislike for competition and desire for work flexibility. She also discussed the role that public policy and human resource practices may play in adding more cracks to the glass ceiling.

The day ended with a policy session which consisted of a panel discussion on how to integrate a gender perspective in practice, with Eva Johansson, SIDA, Bathylle Missika, OECD Development Centre, and Markus Goldstein, World Bank.

Day two of the conference started with research presentations by Riccardo Ciacci, The University of Loyola Andalucía, Scott Cunningham, Baylor University and Maria Perrotta Berlin, SITE.

Ciacci presented his study on the effect of adult entertainment establishments on sex crimes in New York, which shows that opening adult entertainment establishments decrease daily sex crimes.

Cunningham talked about his research on Craiglist’s effect on violence against women. Perrotta Berlin ended the session with a presentation of her research on the impact of asymmetric prostitution laws in Sweden. 

Keynote speaker, Alessandra Voena, gave a presentation on her research on marriage markets and human capital in developing countries. Voena discussed the relationship between female education and bride price payment and issues related to child marriage. She stressed the importance of understanding the economic role of culture and institutions in order to be able to improve female economic opportunities.

After the presentation, it was time for the second policy session with Lisa Williams-Katz, OECD, who talked about financing for gender equality and women’s empowerment beyond ODA.

The last research session featured presentations by Girija Borker, World Bank, Johanna Rickne, Stockholm University, Markus Goldstein, World Bank, and Michal Myck, CenEA.

Borker talked about her research on the impact of street harassment on women's educational choices. The second presenter, Rickne, presented her research findings on job promotions and the durability of marriage.

Goldstein talked about the World Bank’s empowerment and livelihood for adolescents (ELA) program and its effect in different countries. The last research presentation by Myck, was dedicated to discussing the consequences of widowhood on health and material conditions.

To see the conference highlights, participants, speakers, and panelists, please see conference photos on SITE's Facebook page (see here).

To learn more about the conference and research papers presented during the conference, download the policy brief (see here) or read it below. 

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